According to a Pakistani researcher, Tajikistan’s first Minister of Education, Nisor Muhammad, may have been a Tajik rather than an Afghan.
Source: Sputnik Tajikistan (Russia)
In recent weeks, the origins of Nisor Muhammad have been widely discussed on Tajik and Afghan social media.
Some claim that he was originally from the Tajik population of present-day Pakistan and even describe him as a “founder” of the republic. Tajik historians, however, reject these assertions, noting that Tajikistan was established in 1924, while Nisor Muhammad assumed a ministerial position only in 1927.
The debate over Nisor Muhammad’s national identity intensified after the remains of three historical figures—Shirinsho Shotemur, Nusratullo Maksum, and Nisor Muhammad himself—were transferred from Moscow’s Donskoy Cemetery. A capsule containing soil from their graves was personally received in Dushanbe by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. A symbolic farewell ceremony was then held in the capital, followed by their reburial at the Luchob Cemetery, where many of the nation’s prominent figures rest.
Tajik, Afghan, or Pashtun?
Nisor Muhammad openly identified himself as an Afghan or Pashtun, and this is how his contemporaries viewed him as well, Pakistani researcher Arif Hasan Akhundzada told Sputnik Tajikistan. Nevertheless, he argues that the politician’s actual ethnic roots cannot be determined with complete certainty.
“Nisor Muhammad was born in the village of Zaida in the Swabi district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region (then known as the North-West Frontier Province), an area that is today considered Pashtun territory. However, it remains a matter of debate that these lands once belonged to Tajiks and that the present-day inhabitants are their descendants,” the scholar stated.
Akhundzada refers to the Sultanate of Swat, also known as “Swad-Gabr” or “Pakhli Sarkar,” a historical state located in the valley of the river of the same name in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to him, it was a domain of the Gabar tribes with a predominantly Tajik and Persian-speaking population that existed from 1190 to 1519.
The sultanate came to an end through the campaigns of Zahir-ud-Din Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and a descendant of Amir Timur and Genghis Khan. Seeking to conquer India, Babur, after arriving in Afghanistan, turned to the Sarbani Pashtuns, most of whom belonged to the Yusufzai tribe. In return for their support, the tribe demanded control over Swat. Babur accepted the condition and conquered the region, resulting in the end of what Akhundzada describes as a 330-year-old Tajik kingdom.
According to him, Swat was re-established in 1915 as the Princely State of Swat, or the Yusufzai State of Swat. It retained this status until 1969, remaining one of the 565 princely states under the patronage of the British Crown.
At the same time, these territories were not directly incorporated into Britain's colonial possessions. Rather, they existed as semi-autonomous entities and rebellious tribal areas under British control. According to the scholar, after the partition of British India in 1947, the ruler of Swat at the time, Miangul Abdul Wadud, signed the instrument of accession to Pakistan.
The researcher notes that in 1897, when Nisor Muhammad was born, the valley, together with the princely states of Chitral and Dir, formed part of the Malakand Agency—an administrative unit of British India that existed from 1858 to 1947.
“Nisor Muhammad described himself as an Afghan Mandanr from the Yusufzai tribe. The village of Zaida in the Swabi district of the Peshawar Valley is today regarded as one of the centers of this community,” Akhundzada explained.
According to the scholar, the future political figure was officially considered a Pashtun from the Ayubkhel clan of the Abokhel branch of the Mandanr tribe. Today, the area is inhabited by indigenous residents—Pashtunized Tajiks known as the Galikhels.
“They live in the districts of Swabi, as well as in Kunar, Bajaur, and Mansehra. These are Tajiks of the Mitravi branch who once inhabited the State of Swat and were gradually assimilated among the Yusufzais and other Pashtun tribes, such as the Mohmands, Salarzais, Usmankhels, and others who established control over their territories. Today, they identify themselves as Pashtun-Afghans,” Akhundzada notes.
The scholar added that he himself belongs to the Mitravi line of the Akhundzadas, although in appearance and official affiliation, he is considered a member of the Mohmand tribe.
“My mother is English. If one were to judge by her origin, then English should be my native language. However, I grew up among Pashtuns and speak their language fluently. Yet, strangely enough, I do not belong to those people. By ancestry and blood, for seven generations, I am a Tajik. In a sense, I am simultaneously a representative of two peoples,” the Pakistani researcher explained.
This is precisely why the question of who Nisor Muhammad really was remains open. It is noteworthy that he ultimately tied his fate to Tajikistan rather than to any other Soviet republic, although he could have moved to the Turkic regions, the Russian provinces, or the Caucasus.
Nisor Muhammad himself identified as an Afghan from the Yusufzai tribe. However, according to Akhundzada, he may well have been a Tajik, since he was born in a region that belongs to the historical homeland of that people. Nevertheless, all such claims remain speculative in the absence of genetic testing.
Likewise, the assertion that Nisor Muhammad was the first Minister of Education of Tajikistan lacks foundation, as the position had previously been held by Abbas Aliyev, a native of Bukhara. Nisor Muhammad was, however, the first People's Commissar of Education of the republic, serving in that capacity twice: from 1927 to 1929 in the Tajik ASSR and from 1930 to 1932 in the Tajik SSR.
